Capitalizing on
TragedyKira Galt • GESO: We know what real
suffering is October 2001

On October 5, 2001, thousands of Yale workers, graduate and undergraduate
students, hospital workers, retirees, political and religious leaders joined
in a candle-light vigil entitled “Hope Not Fear.” Under the guise of mourning
for the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, unions made the
clever move to gather together people with motivations for their own causes
right when Yale was at the height of its Tercentennial Celebration. GESO,
Locals 34 and 35, and United Students at Yale were all there to promote
“community spirit” while marching to the Yale Bowl where Tercentennial
festivities were held.

Participants gave explanations that varied and often contradicted each
other about the purpose of the rally. Some said that it was about September
11 and not political at all, while others emphasized the political aspects
of the rally and reiterated the marchers’ demands. But a quick look at
the distributed flyers provided a clear image of the organizers’ attitude
toward Yale and politics. “300 Years of Accomplishment – 300 Years of Exploitation.
Half a Century of Union Fightback!” read a flyer issued by the “September
11 Coalition for Peace & Justice.”

Does Yale have 300 years of exploitation on its conscience? A
comparison of Yale’s salary rates to those of other universities reveals
that unionized Yale dining hall workers were the highest paid in the country
as of 1995 (as confirmed by Cornyn & Fasano, consultants hired by Yale
to review the school’s salary policies). Today, a dining hall cook’s helper
makes $14.67 an hour, which seems quite generous for a position requiring
little formal education. The lowest hourly pay rate at Yale is $11.07.

The tradition of union “fightback” against Yale included the labor strike
of 1971, when local unions demanded that fewer students on financial aid
be admitted to Yale, because they were taking away union jobs as part of
their work study. As late as 1995, unions protested the institution of
flex dollars, which resulted in the withdrawal of Bangkok Gardens from
the flex dollar program altogether. Further, because union wages are so
high, Yale students are forced to pay for meals they do not consume to
finance the higher wages. Students who complain that Yale’s “two
plans, one price” meal plan options are too limited should recognize that
unions are a central part of the reason that the university does not honor
student demands.

At every such rally, it becomes harder to believe that participants
really have Yale’s overall good in mind, as GESO members claim. GESO
has sullied the university’s name at Tercentennial events designed to bring
students together. In the spring, when George Bush came to speak at a panel
discussion in Wolsey Hall, all unions marched down the street while GESO
cheered them on. This month, organizers did not even shy away from mixing
the tragedy of September 11 with monetary demands. To quote from that same
flyer of the Coalition for Peace & Justice: “The [Bush] Administration
has just appropriated $349 Billion to wage war – money plundered from our
schools, our health care, our Social Security, our families and our communities.”
The sum approved to fight terrorism, which does not even come close to
the number mentioned in the flyer, comes out of emergency funds.
Moreover, it is the government’s primary mission to protect Americans from
threats from abroad. Redistributive programs like welfare and health
care are secondary functions of the government in times of war (if necessary
at all). As if the organizers’ anti-war stance had not already been
made clear enough, the flyer also proclaimed: “United we can end economic
terrorism, with peace and justice at home and overseas,” inappropriately
comparing the murderous acts of criminals to the economic “exploitation”
allegedly occurring at Yale. Even if the unions’ complaints against
Yale happened to be justified, it is disingenuous and irresponsible to
claim moral equivalence between the two.

Everyone prefers hope to fear. But when those chanting “Hope Not Fear”
demand that spectators buy a package-deal that includes the content of
Mayor DeStefano’s speech, Martin Luther King’s words, Marxist rhetoric,
and anti-Americanism, we have an obligation to object. The marchers’
eclectic approach allowed them to accuse anyone opposing their agenda of
being insensitive to the plight of the members of the community and victims
of an emotionally charged event. In the aftermath of the events that continue
to shake America and at a time when others light their candles for true
victims, October 5 was a low point in the history of Yale’s labor unions.

Kira Galt is a sophomore in Jonathan Edwards College.

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